Kosmos 96 (Venera)

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This was the third and last spacecraft prepared for a Venus encounter by the Soviets in 1965. All three spacecraft had originally been intended for Mars exploration in 1964 and 1965.

In this case, during coast to Earth orbit, a combustion chamber in the booster’s third stage engine exploded due to a crack in the fuel pipeline. Although the payload reached Earth orbit, the Blok L upper stage was tumbling and was unable to fire for trans-Venus trajectory injection.

The probe remained stranded in Earth orbit and the Soviets named it Kosmos 96 to disguise its true mission. The probe decayed on Dec. 9, 1965.